NOTES ON ACTING, an intermittent journal about acting on stage and film, as well as in life.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Oklahoma Shakes Day Forty-eight

I passed my skills test in unarmed, so I finally earned Actor/Combatant recognition from SAFD. It's not a big deal, of course. What is good, though, is that I made further progress on working through my entrenched, unhelpful habits. The adjudicator said that I clearly have control of my body (last time, the adjudicator was unsure of this.) I still need to bend more at the knees--throw my whole body into punches--but I'll get there. I'm persistent.

Our last audience for CHAA was a good one, and the largest of the run. Word of mouth would have gotten us full houses is we had another week.

Socially, my time at OSF has been gratifying, for the most part. So many of the people here--actors, crew, management--are kind, friendly, dedicated, and hard working. But, enforced company with actors isn't easy, either. There was one outright conflict between myself and a crew person--about which I've both written directly and alluded to--and, in at least one other case, there appears to have been a personality conflict between myself and an actor, though I'm unsure. A very friendly start turned chilly and I don't know why, and when I made an overture to clean it up, I was rebuffed, obliquely. In my life before constantly-working-in-theater, those kinds of slights meant a little less to me. I could sidestep them. But now, as I work more amidst the pack, I'm a bit more sensitive to some kinds of personal tensions, to the internal movements of the pack. I can't just count people out now, because they're permanently part of my world, now (and, as crusty as I can be, I don't really like either conflict or cold relations.) I think this one person got annoyed with me, after I seemed to be most worried about me, one time to many. And I got annoyed with her/him, because s/he seemed ungenerous about other actors' foibles, one time to many. I would have liked to have gotten by that, though.

Working with so many other people so often, I'm having to learn to stay light on my feet, in a different way than in the past. Doing so is a challenge, but an interesting one, too.

Huzzah!You made it, David. Six weeks is a long time to spend away from the comforts of home amongst strangers. Especially at your old age! (Happy Birthday btw.) I'd say when you look back you'll forgive yourself and your cohort the slights and other such negativity and recall the growth you made this summer - your first as a pro.You've come a long way, brother. Congratulations on both milestones.

I've been reading your daily ruminations (though rarely responding) through the Oklahoma Shakes period... congrats, man. Seriously. It sounds like this has been a very valuable experience from a professional AND personal growth standpoint. And congrats on passing that SPT test, too!